The Bitter Taste of You
by NekuSakuraba101
Summary: Coffee Shop AU. Where Kido has a bad temper, Kano is kind of a jerk, Ayano tries to be a match maker, and Takane and Shintaro are fighting like normal. A bit more swearing than usual.


"Oi, Kido, you're slipping." Takane murmured to the nodding off greenette next to her.

Kido opened her eyes slowly, sighing deeply into the hand that held her chin. "Thanks." she murmured softly and shifted to stand up straighter. It was only a little past twelve in the afternoon, but yet Kido felt exhausted. And grumpy. "Damn, I really need some coffee." she said.

Takane snorted softly. "Y'know that there is a kitchen fully stocked for all your caffeine needs behind us." she pointed out.

Kido gave a humorless smile. "No, if I have the coffee I'm craving, it will most likely keep me up for three days straight. Five at the most."

"Ah, I see. Well, get more sleep." Takane, always the realist, and honestly blunt.

The younger girl chuckled dryly. "It's not like I haven't tried. Been having weird dreams lately that wake me up every few hours."

"Sleeping pills?"

"Yes, that's what I need, to become an addict."

Takane seemed to be giving up on this conversation. She was good to talk to, but if she couldn't get a good point across, she would start losing interest, like now. "Don't know." she muttered.

Kido didn't know either. All she wanted was to go home, get out of these clothes maybe, and take a nap. But no, she had a commitment here, at this damn café.

_Thank you Ayano Tateyama, my best friend since third grade, for so kindly giving me this job, _Kido muttered to the girl in her head, _for letting me work with you at this beautiful café that smells overwhelmingly of coffee and chocolate, and forces me to where these small, frilly skirted outfits that barely cover my ass._

Oh, didn't she mention that? The embarrassing, low cut, practically maid outfit, clothes that made all the perverts stare at her butt and jerks cat call to her, which was really all she needed.

Though even this couldn't discourage the shy pride she felt while wearing the outfit. Hers was a grayish navy blue, long sleeved dress. The cuffs, edges off her skirt, and front of the shirt were of white lace and her sleeves were puffed at the shoulders. A detached collar to tie around her neck and a frilly white hair band were also part of the equation. Add all these with a pair of knee high brown boots and she was officially in employee attire.

Suddenly, the glass door connecting the café to the outside world opened with the sound of a tinkling metal bell that was always attached to it. Kido didn't bother to look up because, gross, customers. But then Takane patted her on the shoulder and she realized she had no choice. She looked up and, surprise, surprise, there were two guys.

The first one to enter was tall, taller than a lot of the people who usually came in. His hair was short and dark and fixed with a yellow hair clip to one side, which, to Kido, both looked weird but suited him at the same time. He wore a dark green jumpsuit with a name tag she could barely see sticking out of one of the suit's pockets. From all this she concluded he must be on a break of some sort. That and he reminded her of a tree.

But the guy behind him made her do a double take. To say he looked unusual was practically an understatement. His hair was blonde, but she couldn't tell if that was it's natural color or simply dyed, but she was quite sure it wasn't the latter because his eyes seemed to be nearly the same color, gold and flashing like a felines. Apparently there was something up with him and yellow-ish gold because it was also the color of his long sleeved shirt underneath the black hood he wore.

He see seemed to notice Kido staring at him and he gave her a wink along with a Cheshire cat like grin. Kido found herself momentarily flustered at his look, but then glared in response to his gesture before turning away to hide her faint blush. She was suddenly dreading customer service than before.

"Takane." Kido tried to say calmly, "Please, _please,_ take this one for me?" she nearly begged.

Takane looked at her, then at the two approaching the counter, and after only one look, she shook her head, pigtails swishing as did the black tie around her neck. "Sorry Kido." the girl apologized, "I'll be in the back."

Kido groaned softly in distress, looking up for a second to offer a small prayer of strength to whichever deity was available at the moment before turning her attention back to the front counter.

No, no, no, this was bad. It was Ayano who was good at dealing with customers, not her. She couldn't be sweet, kind, and polite just on a dime or simply will herself to be so. Sure, she could be polite if she attempted it, but it came out mainly as pure indifference, which is why they mainly had customers only in the early morning rush and barely ever after that. And who knows what was going to happen now.

"Welcome." is the only greeting she can think to say, granted she was not shy, but it was meant to be polite and casual as she tried to mask how uncomfortable she was and how much she would like to leave _(leave this moment, leave this counter, leave this job even)._

"Hi." the taller, tree limbed boy said to her with a polite smile. He seemed nervous to be talking to her as he was constantly flicking his gaze down to the floor and then back up to her again.

Kido was actually pleasantly surprised by this and she let herself breath again, if only a tiny bit. "So… what can I get you?" she asked, still trying to sound casual.

The boy seemed to stop and trip over himself then. He threw a panicked look at the blonde boy behind him, who had been silent all the while. "One moment please." he told to her then turned back to the other and began to converse in hushed voices.

It took only a few moments for Kido's irritation to spike again. She didn't know what this was, but all she knew is she was embarrassed just standing there like an idiot, Takane probably waiting for her to give her the order. Luckily there were no other customers as of now, so they were free to take their sweet time.

"Excuse me?" Kido finally cut into their conversation with an unpleasant look on her face, "Are you going to order, or are you going to leave? I don't really have all day y'know."

Both of them stopped to look at her, and she stood there, hands on her hips expectantly waiting. To her surprise, and also utter disappointment, the blonde was the one that stepped back toward the counter. He leaned an elbow on it and gave her a smirk. "Hmm, we'll order." he hummed.

Kido was glaring at him, but promptly took out the small notepad branded with coffee rings used for taking orders and a pen. "Oh joy." she replied dryly, "What do you want?"

The blonde tapped his fingers on the counter, and Kido dimly realized that his face is a little too close for her liking, and if he got any closer, she told herself, she'd slap him. "You've worked here a while right? You pick, surprise me~"

Her dislike of him was growing more and more by the second. There was something really wrong with him if he thought she was going to indulge his attempts to be coy and flirt with her. "Fine." she answered through clenched teeth. "And what about him?" She gestured over to where his taller companion was standing awkwardly.

The blonde at the counter turned around. "Who? Seto? No, he's good." He waved a dismissive hand. "How much will it be?" Kido opened her mouth to tell him, but he didn't even let her finish before he called over his shoulder, "Oi, Seto! Can I borrow your credit card?"

The tree of a boy-she now knew to be Seto-looked back at them and approached. "Uh, yeah." He dug in his pocket for his wallet and pulled out the card. He gingerly handed it to Kido who took it and rang up the order, feeling the cat-eyed boy watching her all the while. Grabbing the receipt, she handed both it and the card to Seto.

"You can have a seat as you wait." Kido said curtly. She ripped the paper she'd written on from the notepad and left the counter to make her way into the back.

"So how'd it go? You were out there for quite a bit." Takane murmured as Kido handed her the paper and then leaned back against the counter with a frustrated sigh.

"I just got done with taking the order of a complete asshole." Kido said, "Do me a favor and spit in his coffee, will you?"

"Boy, that's harsh. I didn't think they looked that bad, but he must have been. You usually don't make comments like that at all." Takane mused while she made the order, the sound of the grinder soon blaring in Kido's ears.

"He didn't even order," she continued, outraged, "_I _was the one that put down _my_ favorite drink!"

"But if you thought he was being an asshole, then why did you order something you like for him? Shouldn't you have just given him something like bitter black coffee?"

Kido didn't reply at all, still steaming. She kept her arms crossed as she watched Takane, in her frilly, more traditional looking maid outfit, pour the drink into one of the paper cups and then clamp on a plastic lid along with a cardboard cup sleeve. "Here."

She took the drink, so tempted to drink it just to spite him, but her consciousness nagged at her as she remembered it was that boy, Seto, who had paid for this and it wasn't him she wanted to punish, but why he was friends with that guy she'd never know.

Or then again, maybe she was being too hard. But there was something about him she just didn't like.

"Here's your _order._" Kido says and she all but slammed the drink down on the table in front of the blonde boy where he sat, Seto across from him.

"Ah, thank you~" He seemed to take no notice of Kido's obvious dislike of him, but took the drink and sipped it eagerly. Kido vaguely wondered if Takane spit in it like she'd asked, but of course she'd only been joking. If Ayano found out about something like that happening… we'll, she _and_ Takane _(and maybe even Shintaro) _would be in for it.

"Well, thank you for visiting the café. So, you can leave whenever you like." Kido told them, maybe a little too harshly before she was about to turn and go.

"Y'know, your outfit is very nice." he called after her. Kido tensed.

The only response she gave to his comment was a slight nod, but he continued, "I bet if you smiled more, you'd look even prettier." He was smirking at her. "It's a pity your manners don't really match your looks."

"Kano-!" Seto warned his friend, but it was too late.

Kido clenched her fists, so tensed that her knuckles turned white as her nails bit into her palm. She wanted to hit him; oh she wanted to so badly. _No, no, no, if you assault a customer then Ayano will be blamed and there will be all these lawsuits and stuff like that. _Instead she turned to the nearest table, in this, again, thankfully empty café, and she grabbed the edge and flipped it over.

There was nothing on it save a container of napkins and that was the only other thing besides the chairs and the table itself that was knocked over and that cause such a clatter. Takane appeared at the counter, running when she heard the noise. Seto stared at the mess, his mouth agape as if he couldn't believe what'd just happened. And then there was _Kano, _an amused, crooked smile on his face along with a raised eyebrow.

"Again, thank you for coming." Kido said with mock pleasantness and a wide, innocent smile, giving a small curtsy with her dress skirt before stomping off angrily.

…

"Oi Kido!"

Kido straightened up, broom in hand as she heard Takane call her name from the front. "What is it?" she called back.

There's no response until she saw Shintaro poke his head around the corner into the back. He gave her a grim smile and slightly pitying look, nodding his head. "Your boyfriend's here."

Kido instantly glared at him and, taking the broom, nearly hit him, but the violence of flustered girls can be easily avoided, so Shintaro dodged her quite easily. "He is_ not_ my boyfriend!" she growled, throwing the broom onto the floor where it clattered, but she was ashamed she knew who he was talking about just by the comment. Shintaro just smirked as she shoved passed him, wiping the dust off her apron in the process.

Kido was hoping against hope it wasn't who she thought it was, but life was not so kind and, of course, it was. It was Kano, the source of all her problems at work for the past several weeks, because, ever since he'd come in that day and made her so mad that she'd caused damage to a nearby table, Ayano had scolded her and gave her the job of cleaning out the back of the café everyday, filled with dust and ground coffee that she had to sweep into piles.

That was until _he_ came in, then Ayano would allow her to work at the counter, and Kido was getting sick of it. He'd waltz in there like he owned the place and always, _always_ ask for her, who was the last person on earth who wanted to see him. He'd order the same damn thing everyday and she'd have to make him the damn thing everyday. What a life.

She stepped up to the counter, setting a hard look as Kano noticed her approaching. Before Kido could even say anything, Kano spoke. "You got a little something right here." he said and pointed at his cheek, though she knew he meant hers.

She touched where he gestured, finding a smudge of dust and then wiped it off with the back of her hand hurriedly. She heard Kano snicker and she glared even more at him, though he didn't seem to mind. "What do you want?" she asked him, the annoyance thick in her voice, "Wait. Let me guess… the usual, right?" Like she even had to ask at all.

Kano hummed, a grin slowly creeping across his face. "Haha, that's sweet. You know me so well, Kido." he laughed.

_No, I don't know you, at all. Nor do I wish to. You're just predictable._ Kido automatically held her hand out and Kano placed the credit card into it, and it's disgusting how routine this has become. She swiped it before tossing it onto the counter in front of Kano, wanting to avoid contact with him as much as possible.

Kido quickly went to make the drink, since Takane was busy arguing with Shintaro over something, so it was up to her. It didn't take her long as she had made it for herself countless times before. She finished it in a matter of minutes and shoved the finished product in front of the blonde.

"Here's your drink, _sir._" she added the formality more as a jibe than to be polite, or maybe it was a little of both. "Now please leave."

Kano just smiled, shaking his head at her, and took his drink. "Alright, I get it." he said and then took a long sip of the coffee. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kido~" he winked at her. Then without another word, _sauntered _out the door.

Kido watched him go, and then realized in horror that she was blushing. Cursing, she stomped into the back, hoping her pent up rage would help her be able to break up whatever fight Takane and Shintaro were still having.

…

"Hey, Seto?"

Seto looked up from the magazine in his hands and Kano stood in front of him. He had a cheerful smile on his face and his hands clasped behind his back. This, Seto could tell, could only mean one thing. "Yes?"

"Could I borrow your credit card again?" Seeing the hesitant look on his friend's face Kano added, "Pretty please?"

Seto set down the magazine and sighed. "Kano, please tell me you don't plan on harassing that girl anymore." he said.

Kano mocked a gasp of hurt. "I'm not harassing her. I'm flirting. Hitting on her, but not in the physical way. There _is _a difference, y'know."

Seto shook his head, but Kano saw him already reaching into his pocket to bring out his wallet. He always gave in easily, Kano thought, and took the piece of plastic from his hand. He was just about to leave when Seto's voice stopped him.

"Look, how long do you plan on keeping this up?" he asked.

Kano tried his best to look thoughtful, but it didn't last very long. "Not forever, if that's what you mean." he said with a mischievous smirk.

"Well, even if that's true," Seto said, "if you want to keep on buying coffee from her, then why not get a job, because I'm not sure how long I can continue to lend you money. Even if it's not forever."

Kano frowned. He didn't really know where he was supposed to get a job, and he was not sure he had a lot of qualities that would fit into any job atmosphere. He was also strange looking, he knew, which was a major problem when it came to employers. But then he had an idea.

"Here." he handed the credit card back to Seto. The raven haired boy gave him a puzzled look, but all Kano said, "You're right, I'll get a job."

…

Kido entered through the back, like she did every morning, and after changing in the bathroom in the back, straightened out her apron. She punched in, and still, everything was normal. She picked up her broom from it's designated corner, but that was when Takane came up behind her and called to her. Not normal. "What is it?" she asked her co-worker.

Takane seemed to be giving her a pitying look, biting her lip. "Just come on." the older girl said, "Ayano wants us. We're having a meeting."

Kido frowned in puzzlement. A meeting? They rarely had any of those, and when they did it was usually for something not good. But curiosity outweighed any misgivings she may have felt and followed Takane from the back and from behind the counter.

Takane seemed to be moving uncharacteristically fast as they made their way. Kido sort of fell a few feet behind, so it took her a second to see what kind of horror this meeting was going to be. Shintaro was already there, seated in a chair near where Ayano was standing with-

Kido stopped dead in her tracks and her stomach immediately did a somersault, but not in the good way.

"Oh, okay, you guys are here." Ayano smiled, but her always cheerful and happy toned voice didn't reach Kido through the ringing in her ears. "This is Kano Shuuya and he's going to be working with us from now on~"

_This is a nightmare. I'm dreaming. Yep, that's it, I'm dreaming. Kano came so much that it drove me insane and now I'm dreaming of worst case scenarios. Ayano would never do this to me. She's my friend. She_ wants_ me to live. This is all some horrible nightmare._

-is what Kido was trying to convince herself as she stood, mouth almost agape with astonishment and terrible realization. Now, everything was _not_ normal.

Kano, who was standing next to Ayano, still looked the same as he always did, except today he wore a black shirt and a bright red apron like Ayano and Shintaro (because, yeah, only Kido and Takane had to wear the maid outfits). He smiled brightly, as if he could do no wrong, and waved in greeting.

Kido had never felt so close to fainting before.

…

Kido didn't want him here.

Kano noticed her face right after Ayano's introduction and it was absolutely priceless. Maybe this was a bad move on his part, but at least Ayano was nice enough to give him the job, as long as he promised there would be no more property damage done to the place if she did.

He soon adjusted quickly. Shintaro, nominated by Ayano, was given the task of showing him what he needed to do. Working the equipment was surprisingly easy in Kano's opinion. The harder part, however, was remembering how to make each item on the menu.

Kano never really had a high attention span of listening, paying close attention, or, hell, even remembering was hard for him. And it wasn't help that Kido was distracting him.

Well, she didn't do it _purposely_, it was him distracting himself with her. He watched her, which was… yeah, kinda creepy, but she was the reason he was here. Well, that and he needed to pay Seto back all the money he owed him.

She was not happy. Even though he wasn't particularly familiar with her body language as maybe the others were, he could tell by the gruff way she was sweeping, her clenched fists around the broom, and the faint, incoherent mutterings he heard from her, she really didn't want him here. At all, but that was okay. He didn't really care.

"Hey! Are you paying attention?" Kano snapped back to see Shintaro's irritated and I'd-rather-be-anywhere-else-but-here expression.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, sure." Kano said. It didn't sound convincing at all.

Shintaro just rolled his eyes and continued on in monotone. Kano did listen, but not in a very attentive way.

…

"That… that goddamn, mother f-" Kido couldn't even finish her sentence she was so pissed. How was she supposed to _live_ like this? It was torture, _inhumane_ torture.

She glanced quickly behind her shoulder. Kano and Shintaro were still over by the espresso machine. Shintaro looked only a fraction of what she felt, irritated and… well, for her, even _more_ irritated.

Then she glanced over at Takane who met her gaze and smirked in her direction.

Oh my go, was everybody against her?!

And it continued for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was only a few hours. And Kido spent them angrily sweeping the same clean corner over and over to vent her frustrations.

"Hey, Kido." It was Takane, "We're closing up now."

Kido didn't know whether to be relieved or in despair over knowing that this would all repeat tomorrow morning.

"I'll see you later." said the twin tailed girl, already changed from her uniform.

Kido only managed a simple wave goodbye before Takane was out the door. Sighing, she placed the broom back where it belonged. Only a month more of clean up duty before she could go back to just making drinks again, which she hadn't done in only two days. The last time _Kano _was here.

Ugh, even thinking about him made her angry. She hoped he'd left already, or, maybe even better, went playing in traffic.

With that happy thought, she even more in the back towards the bathroom to change.

It only took her a few seconds to slip into her red vest, purple hoodie , and green jeans, not to mention her comfortably worn out sneakers. Then she stuffed her frilly work outfit into a medium sized backpack and swung it on her shoulders. She had actually managed to forget how terrible work was going to be from now on with Kano and was actually feeling kind of happy. That, is, until she emerged from the bathroom.

"That's quite a fashion statement there." Kano said behind her.

She froze for a second at the sound of his voice, but then turned to face him. He stood with his hands laced behind his back in that innocent, casual way. His apron was absent now and she could see only his black shirt. It was then that she noticed how lean and thin he actually was, without the bagginess of his jacket-hood thing in the way. The shirt, she also noticed, was very tight and form fitting on him. She didn't know why, but that realization made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Your uniform is much more flattering on you." he said when she faced him.

Kid mustered the most peeved look she could and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I was waiting for you because I wanted to give you something."

Kido blinked in surprise, but recovered. "No, I mean, what are you doing _here_?"

Kano shoved his hands now into his pockets nonchalantly. "I'm waiting for Seto to come pick me up, and since it's late Ayano asked me to lock-"

"No!" Kido nearly exploded, cutting him off, "I mean, what re you doing here, working at my job?! _Why_ are you here? Are you just trying to-"

Kido stopped as she felt the urge to punch him and saw that her fist was clenched at her side. What was it about this guy that made her blood boil so much? Or maybe it was just her. "Ugh, you know what, just forget it." she muttered and pushed passed him to the back door and headed out.

But he didn't let her get very far.

Kido didn't even get two feet from the café before Kano was already calling after her. "Hey, Kido wait!"

"What?" she snapped.

He didn't say anything, but instead he held a lidded, paper coffee cup out to her. She, in turn, eyed it skeptically. "What is that?"

"I made it for you~" he said grinning, "I asked Shintaro what your favorite drink was and he told me it was this."

The blonde then pushed the cup into her hands and she had no other choice but to take it, the heat immediately seeping through it and warming her hands. "Uh… thanks, I guess." In all honesty she wasn't really sure what else to say.

"You're welcome." Kano said, and then turned on his heel to leave, making it only to the door when he stopped. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question, I'm here to earn money to pay Seto back, but in the question of why here specifically, it's because of you."

Kido, whose back was to him, just stood there for a long moment, cup in hand, before turning around. "What do you mean…" But Kano had already disappeared back inside, "…me…"

A sort of conflicted emotion rose in Kido's chest. Confusion, anger, non-hate? A mixture of all? She didn't know nor could she seem to identify it.

She looked down at the cup in her hand. Steam curled up from the hole in the top and she caught the practically sinful aroma of chocolate. Against her better judgment, she took a sip.

Kido would have been lying if she said she hadn't expected it to be bad. It wasn't, though. It was surprisingly… good

But maybe just a little too bitter.

* * *

**Okay, i probably will continue this. I don't know how long, but i want to. And if i don't, i think it's fine on it's own.**


End file.
